Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.13, Bloomberg Earnings reports. The business had revenue of $641.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $626.05 million. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 11.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share.

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded up $3.66 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $158.81. 1,987,300 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,721,660. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $113.66 and a 12-month high of $178.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $39,677.02, a P/E ratio of 200.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.49.

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VRTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 21st. Bank of America raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 5th. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $198.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $184.29.

In related news, CMO Jeffrey Chodakewitz sold 3,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.79, for a total transaction of $616,455.84. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 52,524 shares in the company, valued at $8,760,477.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 15,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $2,564,450.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 54,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,222,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 126,476 shares of company stock worth $20,592,126 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 31st that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the pharmaceutical company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, develops medicines for serious diseases. The company focuses on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) and advancing its research and development programs. It markets ORKAMBI (lumacaftor in combination with ivacaftor) to treat patients with CF 12 years of age and older who are homozygous for the F508del mutation in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene; KALYDECO (ivacaftor) for the treatment of patients with CF who have specific mutations in their CFTR gene, including the G551D mutation; and SYMDEKO (tezacaftor in combination with ivacaftor) to treat patients with CF 12 years of age and older who are F508del homozygous or who have 1 mutation that is responsive to tezacaftor/ivacaftor.